Six places ranging from a residential
street to an entire region of England
were named as England’s first “Zero
Waste Places” by Environment Minister
Jane Kennedy.

The Zero Waste Places will aim to
go as far as possible in reducing
the environmental impact of waste,
whether it be at home, in the workplace
or in the community.

The six places chosen to implement
zero waste plans are:

The London Borough of Brent,
which will develop 20 Green
Zones across the borough by
September 2009, which will
involve establishing Green
Teams of residents and developing
a GIS-based map of the borough,
showing green “threads” growing
through the borough to track
the progress of the initiative.

Shenley Church End in Milton
Keynes will see the area of
nearly 1,500 homes, two schools
and a number of high street
businesses aim to cut waste
and litter right across the
area.

Kings Lynn in Norfolk will achieve
zero waste as far as possible
within the historic area of
the Tuesday Market, which is
home to businesses and homes,
as well being a tourist hotspot
and the focus of many civic
events.

The London Borough of Lewisham
will run an Eco Street initiative,
where around 100 properties
will be targeted through a
range of measures including
specialist advice and support
to cut waste.

Peterborough will run a Zero
Waste City Centre initiative,
which will focus on Cathedral
Square and the three streets
leading from it (Bridge Street,
Cowgate and Long Causeway),
including the Queensgate Shopping
Centre, encompassing more than
200 retailers and offices,
including the Town Hall and
council offices.

The West Midlands will create
a Zero Waste Region, focusing
on businesses and organizations
that produce a large quantity
of waste, identifying region-wide
waste infrastructure needs,
improving co-operation and
cutting business waste right
across the region.

Environment Minister, Jane Kennedy
said, “Across England, we are seeing
communities come together with innovative
ideas and a shared determination
to tackle waste locally. These six
zero waste places will test what
can be done to make it easier for
people and businesses to change the
way they view and deal with waste.”

The Zero Waste Places have been selected
as demonstrators for innovative and
replicable initiatives that enable
waste prevention in schools, households
and businesses, and support local
authorities in taking a leadership
role in reducing the overall environmental
impact of waste.